Our day continued with a drive up to the beautiful and
mystical city of Tzefat. Though Tzefat
(Safed) may have some biblical origins, it did not really become a significant
city for Jews until the rise of Kabbalah along with the presence of Isaac Luria
(Ari).
Kabbalah came to Tzefat following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 through a some what circuitous route. However once it became present in Tzefat, we saw the rise of traditions like Lecha Dodi – the welcoming in of the Sabbath bride.
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Ari Synagogue in Tzefat |
Learning about Kabbalah from Mike ... and later from me |
The were many of the usual artist offerings including
paintings filled in with micro-print Hebrew, tallitot, yarlmulkes, paintings,
sculptures, jewelry, and so much more.
However, one of the highlights was the presentation by a local
glassblower and artist Sheva Chayya.
Sheva came to Israel from Colorado after studying art at Princeton. Sheva grew up nominally Jewish, and it was
only through first a high school Israel trip and subsequent trips that she
began to pursue the idea of making Israel her home. Sheva radiates warmth and genuine affection
for Israel and her rediscovered connection to her Jewish roots (by becoming ba'al yeshivah). This was brought about by a group known as
Aish HaTorah, a group that I have strong feelings about, that I will share on
another blog on another day. But lets
just say that Sheva’s demonstration led to many successful sales. Both she and many on our group left as happy
campers.
After leaving our hard earned money, we grabbed a not so
quick bite along the way, as many restaurants were closed due to Yom
Ha’atzma’ut. Even the falafel stand was
closed! Oy!
Sheva Chayya |
Israeli restaurants are based on the European model,
meaning, they want you to take your time.
This means the waiters will get to you when they are ready, not
necessarily when you are ready. And if
you are in a hurry … well … thankfully we were only a few minutes late to our
scheduled date. All in all, it could
have been worse.
On the eastern side of the Jordan we were greeted by a group
of jeeps and guides. After cramming in
twenty-people into four jeeps, we very bumpily made our way to across the
‘mighty’ Jordan in to the middle Golan.
Many were quite impressed to get a sense of the modern history of the
Golan. This too is another area I have
strong feelings about. Basically, given
what is currently going on in Syria, with Syrians killing Syrians, I have no
idea how anyone can reasonably expect them to honor any peace agreement with
the Israelis, let alone one that would justify the giving up of the Golan. For giving up the Golan would result not just
in security challenges for Israel, but also in water challenges. Syria already tried once to cut off the
Jordan River, whose to say she won’t try again.
(again no photos, I didn't want to risk the camera in all of the jostling)
Following our informative and very bumpy tour (as our guide
called it ‘jeep massages’) we headed back quite weary and dusty to the
hotel. I for one was quite excited
because I was heading out to dinner with some of my wife’s cousins, several of
whom I had never met…
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